Yeah that route isn't really a fair assessment of monorail technology just like the bus route from All Star to Coronado wouldn't be a fair assessment of busses.
Not really. 45 minutes was a pretty average time when I was running a clock on it, but like @s8film40 stated, that route is really a worst case scenario for the monorail as you have to travel the entire resort loop to end up 1/8 of a mile from where you started to change trains.
This is only true in aggregate. In other words, if you needed more active buses total or more monorails total. Where buses excel is in the dynamic deployment given a fixed number of units in service at a given time. The WDW bus routes aren't static. It's rarely the case that Disney would need to deploy an extra driver to get an extra bus going. Rather, it's much more common that a specific need arises, for example more buses are needed at Epcot around 9:30 PM every night, or if a bus breaks down on its way to pick up guests at POP, a different bus in the fleet can be rerouted there from a lower-demand route given the particular conditions at that time.
That might be operationally efficient, but it's a tremendous waste of money. You don't invest in something as expensive as monorail trains that you'd intend to keep in a storage facility most of the time. Also, you're focusing on the vehicles exclusively and ignoring the tracks. If Disney decides to build a new resort in what is now swamp land, buses can run on the same roads that guests and employees are driving on anyways. Monorail beams (whether elevated or otherwise) are far more expensive than roads.
The very same thing can be done with monorails and in fact it is done regularly at WDW now. Depending on need a train is often moved from Epcot to Express or vice versa rather than from storage. The advantage monorails have over buses in regards to this is that a vehicle can more easily be added rather than pulling from an existing route if that is whats needed. More specifically in the case of the 4car/8car trains I mentioned before, a train could be moved from one line that has passed it's peak traffic point to another now reaching a peak time or experiencing a problem and then the trains on that first line could separate and actually reduce wait times even with fewer trains. In this way there are more options available than with buses and ultimately if more vehicles are needed they can easily be added.
It's actually the other way around wether it be buses or monorails you purchase what you need at the maximum peak and then remove vehicles when they're not needed. So yes you do pay money to have vehicles sitting unused a portion of the time.
I would love to see some sort of "programmable pod" based on the WEDway system. Get in, select a destination on a screen and go.Here we go again.....
I still advocate Monorail inter park and a WEDway system from each to other local destinations
Absolutely. Incorporate the reliable WEDway infrastructure with a modern selectable control system.
That could be a problem.
So they have to basically build two rails so that another one can pass by it? I'm not seeing the financial positivity of that! Without the added investment of those side rails if a train breaks down, the rail is blocked until it can be repaired or towed away. Face it, Disney doesn't want another expensive transportation system that is only busy certain times of the day, opening and closing or special events, one that cost a fortune and has absolutely no return on the investment. It has never been said by anyone, that if they added the monorail line to go to all the resorts or parks they would go there. Also no one has ever said that they are not going back until they build one.
Side rails can be built only occasionally along the line. With a modern automated system these could be used to divert trains around the section of track with a disabled train, there's not a huge additional cost to do this.
Yes mechanical problems are always going to happen, but they should be extremely rare. I agree if we're basing things off Disney's recent track record monorails don't look like a good option. It's better to have half your busses running rather than multiple trains being towed.
Again if your going to discuss the cost of buses vs. monorail be sure to include the recurring per year labor cost. At almost $100,000 per year per bus that adds up pretty quick.
I should have been more specific by bus loop I meant the series of bus stops located at the MK. If a bus breaks down at the entry/exit or traffic backs up at that point all bus traffic to and from the MK has to stop. It's happened before and it can be a real mess.
The most expensive part of the monorail system (not counting the trains themselves) would be the equipment to transfer from one rail to another. So if you don't count that the cost isn't huge.
Once they have already used that day ticket, I don't think Disney cares whether or not they go to any specific park or not. Besides the alternative methods are not all that difficult to deal with if you want to go someplace bad enough. That is just a whim decision done for convenience. If they made an ADR then they would find the way there.
Although I have never witnessed it personally, from what I hear there is more of a problem now then there was before, but, even new equipment can have problems. If they are going to spend money, I rather they spend it on a newer Monorail fleet to replace what is already there, then to spend it on something that will not be used as much as you might think. When you figure the total number of miles compared to the number of breakdowns, they are a long way away yet of not being listed as dependable. Again, I have never had a problem using the Monorails even in recent years. Maybe I'm just lucky.
I do not have access to what it costs to run that Monorail all day long, but, I'd bet that there is a huge crew that works the monorail shops to keep them going constantly. What we also tend to overlook is the crowds we see on the Monorail are limited to certain times of the day. They rest of the time they are running practically empty. Parts are universal on buses, on Monorails they are specific to the specifications of the buyer. They cost a lot more to maintain and I'd hate to have to pay the electric bill to operate them.
Those are called switches, they're not that expensive.
I would say the fact that Disney has conducted several tests over the years offering additional transportation directly from the MK and other parks at closing time would indicate they do in fact care about where guests are going when they leave and would ultimately prefer they go somewhere where Disney can make a few extra bucks off of them.
Monorails have traditionally had a less than .01% downtime. IF managed correctly they could achieve this again.
I don't really want to argue this point, because, well, a snowball in hell has a better chance of survival then extended Monorail lines have of showing up. However, when you say switches, regular train switches are simple and basic and cheap. When you have to move an entire concrete beam, even a short distance, you are going to need some pretty powerful motors and hydraulic pumps, and some special design. Apples and oranges comparison, in my mind.
I'm not saying switches are super cheap, it's just not that big of a deal. No community or entity considering monorails is out there deciding against it because of the high cost of switches.
I wasn't talking about communities I was talking about Disney and how they think about stuff. But, although there are places that have Monorail systems, they are few and far between. If they were economically sound they would be all over the place. They aren't! The outside community isn't rejecting them due to the high cost of switches because they don't ever even get that far before they know it isn't workable or economical.
